Hi everyone,
I have been admitted for (Chemical) Engineering at Purdue and UW Madison. Where do you all think I should go, considering the following factors?
Also, tuition is no problem. So don’t consider it.
Thanks
UW-M arguably has an edge over Purdue in chemical engineering - though not enough to make a big difference in terms of employment opportunities after graduation, as both are well respected.
As for location, I’d take Madison - one of the nicest college towns in the country.
All in all, if it were me I’d pick UW-M.
Alright. Thank you
If tuition’s no problem, then I’d go with U Wisconsin. Great college town, excellent college of engineering. 
@MYOS1634 Thanks of the input!
Keep in mind that the entire UW system has recently had its budget cut, and Governor Walker and his appointed Board now control tenure decisions in WI. This has caused some of the top researchers to leave, and others to consider leaving. For more details:
At the undergrad level this may or may not be a decision breaker - all I am doing is pointing this out - it is something to be aware of.
@nugraddad Wow this is something new. Budget cuts for research facilities do impact engineering students and the facilities available to them (since equipment is used for researchers and unergrads). Thanks for bringing this to light.
To the OP-- as a UW parent, I have read the Slate article, and I think there is a fair amount of click-bait in it. Gov Walker pushed, and the legislature approved, major cuts to the multi-campus UW university system. As the largest campus, UW Madison was hit with the largest cuts, but other regional campuses were hit as well. The Chancellor of UW (which is what everyone alls the Madison flagship), has navigated through this funding issue about as well as anyone could. Over $200 million in private funds were donated, quickly, targeted towards attracting and retaining the talented faculty UW depends on. UW has spent $8 million this year to keep faculty who had competing offers elsewhere. 85% of the faculty who had competing offers, stayed. That is, apparently, consistent with prior years. So no flood of departures. It does cost the university more, to keep faculty, now that the word is on the street that UW faculty might be ripe for plucking.
UW has recently committed to increasing salaries for TAs, to again, attract and retain the best Ph.D. students at the graduate level. OOS tuition has increased, from my perspective as an OOS family, modestly. We started paying $26k a year, I think, for my OOS kid. It will increase to about $32k per year. Not an insignificant difference, but in our student’s experience, UW is a world class university and was a bargain at $26k. $32 is still significantly less than Michigan for an OOS and a whole lot less than at private, where we would be full-pay. So for us, it is a financial no-brainer. UW has maintained a roughly 65% Wisconsin resident, 15% Minnesota resident, and 20% other OOS undergrad student body – at least that is my understanding and I have not gone back to confirm that for this response. So there is no sudden influx of all OOS to balance the budget, which is another story which has circulated.
You can google Chancellor Blank’s positions about how UW is managing through the state-mandated budget cuts. A lot of it is consolidation of administrative functions and services. The last thing Chancellor Blank has said she wants to touch is academic programs.
Research funding for labs comes from a lot of different places. Schools are ranked on how much competitive outside funding they get, and UW is always high on that list. In many of the sciences, equipment, researchers, travel, all get funded from the external research funding. That is why research faculty with success in getting outside research funding are gold to a university, they pull in this funding which covers much of the cost “of doing science.” External research funding, such as through NSF or DoD, are entirely separate from the State’s cuts. There can be an impact, certainly, if UW loses high-performing faculty who take productive labs with them and cannot attract strong replacements.
Purdue and UW for Chem E are both excellent programs. I believe UW’s Chem E has been ranked in the top 5, but those rankings fluctuate. I didn’t think UW admitted freshman directly into departments within the College of Engineering, as students apply to their specific Engineering programs typically in sophomore year after they have completed the course pre-requisites. But my kid isn’t in the College of Engineering, so I am not current on the latest admission practices for Engineering. Read your acceptance letter carefully to confirm whether you are a direct admit to the College of Engineering or if you are a direct admit into Chem E specifically. If you aren’t comfortable living with the risk that you might not be admitted to Chem E at UW and would have to choose another engineering department, and you have been admitted directly into Purdue’s Chem E program, that might be a reason to choose Purdue. My kid has a lot of engineering friends, and he says Chem E at UW is one of the most competitive programs for admission.
Personally, I think UW and Madison wins any kind of college town/student experience comparison with Purdue and West Lafayette.
Good luck to you, they are both superb engineering programs.
Midwestmomofboys - I found a conservative magazine with a look at the Walker budget cuts - and Forbes does not like the cuts any more than Slate. link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevensalzberg/2015/06/12/wisconsin-gov-scott-walkers-dual-attacks-on-the-university-of-wisconsin/#8caa0a674002
BTW - I am the father of 2 ChemE kids - from another B1G Ten school - so I feel a sense of ownership in trying to help a potential ChemE navigate a tough decision by pointing out the recent change. Also worth pointing out - my wife is from MadTown - and she is as unhappy as the Forbes author with the effect of the overt politicizing and cutting the budget of a premier state university. Hopefully this will only have a short-term impact on education in WI.
But not going to argue about the rep of the UW ChemE Dept and The Madison Experience!
Good Luck OP - you should do ok for undergrad, regardless of the recent cuts. If you have a younger sibling? Maybe not so much - certainly worth reviewing if applicable.
@nugraddad I didn’t mean to suggest there was any particular ideological slant to the Slate article, I find it rather sloppy journalism, lots of hue and cry and wringing of hands. What Walker and the legislature has done is scandalous in my mind, and an attack on a great public institution for strictly partisan gains. As a current UW family, I am sensitive about the reaction that “the sky is falling.” It’s not, but it’s not sunshine and roses either. Walker created a financial mess across the entire system. UW has been a beacon of public education, along with other great schools. Personally, I don’t understand how the recall of Walker failed, but then its a big state and Madison is only one small part of it.
I asked my kid about direct admits to Chem E at UW. He said that, at least among the College of Engineering students he knows, students are not directly admitted to Chem E as incoming freshman but apply during sophomore year. I had heard that UW was expanding direct admits to Business and perhaps to Engineering, so perhaps there are now direct admits to Chem E at UW. If that is not the case, for the OP, that would be an important difference to consider – if he (she?) were a direct admit at Purdue to Chem E but not at UW.
Wisconsin may give direct admission to specific engineering majors. However, it looks like staying in the chemical engineering major requires a 3.5 technical and 3.0 overall college GPA after the first year courses, according to https://www.engr.wisc.edu/academics/student-services/academic-advising/first-year-undergraduate-students/progression-requirements/ .
Purdue admits to first year engineering; students must apply to their majors after completing prerequisites. Admission is competitive by college GPA, according to https://engineering.purdue.edu/ENE/Academics/FirstYear/T2M . It does not appear that they list how high the GPA threshold typically is for chemical engineering.
@Midwestmomofboys That was quite a read. I was admitted into the College of Engineering at Madison. Not directly into the chemical engineering major. However, at Purdue, no one is admitted directly in their major. Everyone is admitted into the First Year Engineering and must decide their major after the prerequisites. I am confident of getting into Chem E for both colleges as my grades in HS and ACT score were high and I’m confident of maintaining a high GPA in college. It is true that Chem E at UW is ranked top 5 in US whereas Purdue comes in the top 15, but like you said, the rankings fluctuate. One thing I would like to get your input on is the median starting salaries. According to this website (engineering startclass) the median starting salaries for Chem E graduates at UW is 62,000 whereas Purdue’s is 66,000. Do you have any idea how this could be? (Please forgive me if the salaries turn out to be unreliable stats, but just check them out for yourself)
@nugraddad Which colleges were your children admitted to? I was admitted to a few other colleges (Minnesota Twin cities etc.). Also, can you shed any light on the job prospects for Chem E students after graduating from college?
Earning a 3.5 GPA in college is more difficult than earning a 3.5 GPA in high school. Be sure that you have a backup plan (either a different less competitive major or transfer to another school where you can get into your major) if you attend a school where you need a high GPA to get into or stay in your major.
Minnesota is considered good for chemical engineering, but you need a 3.2 technical GPA to assure admission to the major (though students with lesser GPAs may be admitted if there is space available). https://cse.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/ChemicalEng.pdf
What other schools have you been admitted to, and were you directly admitted to the chemical engineering major?
UMN-TC tops the other two for Chem E (though UW-M not far behind). I know you said cost is not a factor but these universities are all very comparable so if one costs significantly less I would go with that option. Overall acceptance rates for UW-Madison are lower than for the other two so it may be more competitive to gain entrance to the Chem E program there. I would also look at the size the of the Chem E departments and whether the curriculum varies.
@ucbalumnus Thats quite true. As of now I’m leaning towards entering Purdue. I will get in touch with the faculty or counselors and ask them about how the transition to major works for Chem E. Well I have not really set a back up plan as of now. Could you suggest a few possible (specific) back up plans that can help?
Minnesota is quite highly ranked for Chem E but from what I heard it isn’t as prestigious as Purdue or Wisconsin and it doesn’t excel in any other engineering fields. So I feared that companies may not see it as a great engineering college.
I was admitted into Ohio State University, University of Massachusetts, Amherst and waitlisted at UCLA and UIUC. I’m currently waiting on University of Michigan Ann Arbor, UCB and NYU. Rejected from Georgia Tech.
@singermom4 But I feel UMN lacks that presitge and competitve edge that Purdue and Madison have. Do you have any idea as to how UMN is ranked so high in just one field of engineering? What is so speical about the Chem E program at UMN that other better colleges lack?
Basically, the question becomes, if you cannot get into your major at the school you are at, would you rather stay at the same school but settle for a different major, or transfer to a less selective school to be able to get into your major at the other school?
UMass Amherst chemical engineering is not hard to get into, with 2.0 GPA and C grades minimum in prerequisites:
https://engineering.umass.edu/current-students/admission-major
At Ohio State, it looks like chemical engineering will be competitive admission for all students starting this fall; previously, 2.7 major and overall GPAs assured admission:
https://advising.engineering.osu.edu/sites/advising.engineering.osu.edu/files/uploads/Admission_To_Major/engineering_major_application_information_su2016-sp2017.pdf
@ucbalumnus I see. Just want to clarify one thing. Say I join Madison, and i gain a 3.5 technical and 3.0 overall gpa after my first year and I enter the Chem E program. Do I have to keep getting a 3.5 and 3.0 overall GPA by the end of every year to remain in the course?
In terms of overall prestige:
UW > Purdue = Minnesota
For ChemE I think they are pretty even. UW is probably stronger in non-STEM programs than Purdue. (Which is to say, UW combines the quality of Purdue STEM with the quality of IU social sciences and humanities.)
Speaking from experience, Madison is a great campus in a great city.
If I were you, i would visit both schools (and Minnesota too, if you are so inclined). You have to spend four years, at least, there; make sure the culture, extracurricular atmosphere and physical environment suit you. Chem E and other STEM fields are very strong at all of them, so it might be best to choose based on fit.
@prezbucky thanks for the input. Will most probably visit both collleges in April (not minnesota).